Dubai’s malls: It’s not all about the shopping

I sometimes hear people say there’s not much to do in Dubai. “It’s just beaches, skyscrapers and fancy shopping malls,” people say. “How many malls do you need?”

It’s a fair question. Malls here have been multiplying like mosquitos in recent years. Everywhere I go, I’m amazed to see brand new “retail destinations” complete with cafés, fountains, parking spaces and people actually using them. New developments such as Citywalk, Al Wasl Square and the new Beach development at Jumeirah Beach Residences seem to pop up almost overnight, each of them spawning even more shiny shops.

And there’s no end in sight. This month alone, three more new malls were announced – two in the same district, and one dedicated entirely to selling “gadgets”.An additional 36,000 square feet of retail space is expected to be added to Dubai’s retail offerings this year. Dubai Mall – already the “daddy” of the world’s malls at 5.4 million square feet – is currently working on a one-million square foot expansion.

I suppose, when you look at it like that, I can see why outsiders might think Dubai residents are obsessed with shopping. But here’s the funny thing: while others think we spend all our free time pushing designer purchases through gold-plated tills, we, too, wonder who it is who does all the shopping. As if we spend our weekends spending money! There’s so much more to do in Dubai than shop!

Or is there? While there are plenty of great things to do in Dubai’s glorious winter, sometimes, in summer, weekend choices really can boil down to watching the children try to kill each other at home; roasting in your own juices outdoors; or taking a trip to the mall. We probably do end up going to the mall far more often than we would if we lived in the UK.

But here’s the big misunderstanding: in Dubai, smalls are not entirely about shopping. Cast your mind back to developer Emaar’s vision when the behemoth that is Dubai Mall was first announced. I remember reading how this spectacular new mall was going to change the way we shopped. It was going to be not just a mall but a “lifestyle destination”. Families, said Emaar, would go to the mall for the whole day – but not necessarily to shop.

Given it’s so hot outside for half the year, the Dubai Mall was to present a viable, temperature-controlled alternative to slipping about in your own sweat in the heat. Everything a family needed, from healthcare and exercise options to food and entertainment would be provided alongside the shops. It all sounded a bit Utopian, to be honest.

Shopping? My children perfect their landings on the Emirates flight simulator at Kidzania, Dubai Mall.

But fast-forward a few years and that’s exactly what’s started happening here: many of Dubai’s residents go to the mall more for entertainment than they do to shop. Dubai Mall claims to offer “everything you desire” – there’s a full-sized ice rink and an underwater zoo; you can take a glass-bottom boat ride across the aquarium and dive with sharks. There’s a selection of world-class entertainment centres for children and, since “TDMDino” – the skeleton of a 155-million-year-old diplodocus – has been set to rest in the Grand Atrium, you can also teach your children a little about history.

Even in the comparatively small Mirdif City Centre, you can go indoor sky-diving. In new-generation malls like these, it’s possible to have an action-packed day without going near a shop; a 22-screen cinema sounds pedestrian. Shopping? What shopping?

Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Ventures, which develops shopping malls in Dubai, confirms that the proportion of malls that’s now dedicated to non-retail use such as entertainment, is significantly higher than it was 10 years ago.Real estate investment and advisory firm Jones Lang LaSalle says that “many visitors don’t shop”; that, these days, “a mall’s attractions are the main drivers of footfall.” And, given that Dubai Mall was the most visited destination in the world last year, with a higher footfall even than Dubai Airport, such diversification clearly works.

Annabel Kantaria is a journalist who’s lived in the UAE long enough to call it home. She’d quite like to ride a camel to work, is totally over gold-plated supercars an, contrary to popular belief, is not a big shopper. Follow her on Twitter: @BellaKay; and on Instagram: dubaipix